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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Notes And Quotes From Sprint Cup Media Tour

Jack Roush

It hasn’t been easy, but
we finally found someone with something negative to say about the new, Gen-6
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car. Team owner Jack Roush said yesterday that SpeedWeeks 2013 at Daytona International Speedway could be
a wreck-filled affair, due to a new car that he called, “hard to handle.”

"At Daytona and
Talladega, we've got trouble coming,” said Roush. “With the 450 pounds of
downforce they've taken off those cars… it will make a lot of cars hard to
handle. The cars are so close to not having enough mechanical and aero grip
that the drivers are going to have a knife-edge window to deal with.

“I think it's going to
be trouble."

Roush suggested a larger
rear spoiler to stabilize the cars, but said he doubts NASCAR will make any
changes until after the Daytona 500.

Dale
Earnhardt, Jr. commented on the Daytona testing wreck
caused when he turned Marcos Ambrose
in a misguided bump-drafted attempt on the backstretch. “I’ve thought long and
hard,” he said, “and that's probably the most embarrassed I've ever been."

Chase
Elliott will run in five ARCA and nine Camping World Truck Series
races this season in a No. 94 Chevy Silverado fielded by Hendrick Motorsports. The second-generation driver – son of
longtime Cup Series favorite “Awesome Bill” Elliott will run all four Truck
Series races at Martinsville and Iowa Speedways, along with single
events at Rockingham, Dover, Bristol, Canadian
Tire Motorsport Park and Phoenix.

Jim
Campbell, U.S. vice
president of performance vehicles and motorsports for Chevrolet, commented on the synchronicity between Chevy’s new SS
race car the street version of the machine. “It’ll be great to be racing a
Chevy small-block V-8, rear-wheel-drive car on the race track and selling a
Chevy small-block V-8, rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet SS in the showroom,” said
Campbell. “The SS has a great history. (The letters) stand for Super Sport and
I can’t wait to see the Chevrolet SS on the opening lap of the Daytona 500.”
Chevrolet will unveil the Chevy SS production car on Feb. 16 at Daytona.

Chip Ganassi

Chip
Ganassi shared the
Media Tour stage with all seven of his NASCAR,
IndyCar and Grand Am drivers; a
group that claims six IndyCar championships, six Grand Am titles, four Indianapolis 500 trophies, four Rolex 24 at Daytona titles, a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400 and 150 assorted race wins.

“This is a pretty talented group,”
said Ganassi of Sprint Cup drivers Jamie
McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya;
Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Charlie
Kimball of the IZOD IndyCar Series; and Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas
of the Grand-Am series. All seven Ganassi drivers will be competing in the 51st
annual Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend.

“There’s obviously something missing
from that list, and that’s a NASCAR championship,” said Ganassi. “We want to
add that to our list of accomplishments.”

Montoya said he is confident of his
prospects after two consecutive disappointing seasons. “I’m not going to come
out and say I’m confident we’re going to have a great season, but the way
testing has gone, it’s hard not to be excited,” said Montoya. “We’re bringing
back our whole team. That’s very rare. I think that is going to be an advantage
for us.”

Charlotte Motor Speedway President Marcus Smith commented on the 2013 All-Star Race, calling the event, “the
perfect race for the ADD generation. What’s not to like?”

And finally, Jeff Gordon offered this gem when asked “if the Car of Tomorrow was
a suit, how would it compare to the new, Gen-6 car?” In Gordon’s words, “Mine
was about five sizes too big.”

Much more excited about Ryan Blaney then Chase Elliott. Elliott was in Hendrick equipment last season and did not live up to any expectations ( 46 starts between ARCA,Pro CUP, K&N East/West since 2010 and only 2 wins). The heavier cars just seem to be giving him a fit ( or maybe the competition is a little stiffer then in the SLM/PLM world). Same as Bubba Wallace, tons of backing and nothing to show for it.